LIVING TO DIE :: essays research papers

Living to Die â€Å"Love is the emblem of eternity: it confounds all notion of time: effaces all memory of a beginning, all fear of an end.† ~ Germaine De Stael In William Shakespeare’s Sonnet #73 [That Time of Year Thou Mayst in Me Behold], the main theme of an approaching and inevitable death is applied. Moreover, this theme is being explained to a loved one in order for her to embrace and cherish her love for him while he still breathes. Beginning with the first quatrain, Shakespeare compares his age to that of autumn which stands for his advancement of years. Furthermore, in the second quatrain, Shakespeare elaborately compares his aging to a sunset, which is right before night, or in Shakespeare’s case, death. In the final quatrain Shakespeare further compares his life to the life of a fire, which burns bright at the beginning but eventually dies out and turns to ashes. The point of the final couplet is to have the reader realize that the entire sonnet is written to his lover; in order to symbolize the way that Shakespeare feels that she views him in natural terms. Furthermore it shows the undying nature of love present be tween them, which cannot die along with his death. In the first quatrain, Shakespeare metaphorically compares himself to a tree in the season of fall. The season of fall is symbolic because it represents a transition in time, right after spring and summer when life is full of energy, and right before winter when everything is dead and ceased to be. He goes on to say 'That time of year thou mayst in me behold when yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang upon those boughs which shake against the cold"(579). Shakespeare uses conceit to elaborately compare his furtherance of age to the aging tree in the fall. Just as the tree is helpless and naked to the elements, Shakespeare is naked and helpless in the hands of time. Furthermore, Shakespeare portrays the fact that his death is inevitable. In the second quatrain, Shakespeare seems to say death comes like night, dark and quiet, like a thief, stealing when we sleep. Moreover, the speaker compares his age to the late twilight, "As after sunset fadeth in the west," and the remaining light is slowly extinguished into the darkness. Meaning, death will come, without question. The sun setting could also be regarded as the sun going to sleep, which plays on the last line of the quatrain, "Death's second self, which seals upon rest.

What to Believe In the novel Life of Pi

Jeff Ramos English101 Mr. Adams 11-21-2012 What to Believe In the novel Life of Pi, Yann Martel uses the protagonist Pi to demonstrate how faith, ritual and ones will to live save one from the barbaric and carnivorous reality. Pi Patel, lover of faith and various gods and their beliefs loses his family after a shipwreck and drifts on the Pacific Ocean with the zebra, hyena, orangutan and tiger named Richard Parker, each struggling in their own way to survive. In the end, Pi presents two different stories and leaves it up to the reader to decide which version is ultimately true.Personally, I would believe the animal story was made up by Pi because the human story was too much for him to endure. But how do we define truth? Is something true simply because it is believable? Is something untrue because it seems unrealistic? The dictionary defines truth as 1) the true or actual state of a matter; 2) conformity with fact or reality; 3) a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principl e or the like. The relativity of truth is not emphasized as a major theme until the last part of the novel, when Pi recaps the entire story to the officials from the shipping company who are questioning him.Pi lets them choose the version they prefer, and for them that version becomes truth. In this world, people believe the version of truth that they are most comfortable with. People would rather believe a colorful version of a story, over the gruesome details of the story that actually happened. For example, as Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba were interviewing Pi, he asks them â€Å"So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can’t prove the question either way, which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with the animals or the story without animals? Mr. Chiba: the story with the animals.Mr. Okomoto: Yes. The story with animals is the better story. † (317). After hearing the two versions of Pi’s horrendous account, the interv iewers agree the story with the animals is the â€Å"better† story, however; never do they say they believe it is true. As humans we tend to think that something is untrue just because it is unbelievable or we just haven’t had an opportunity to experience a certain situation yet. For example, when Pi is describing the atheists and agnostics last words he says â€Å"I can well imagine an atheist’s last words: â€Å"white, white? L-L-Love! My God† – and the deathbed leap of faith.Whereas the agnostic, if he stays true to his reasonable self, if he stays beholden to dry, yeast less factuality, might try to explain the warm light bathing him by saying, â€Å"possibly a f-f-falling oxygenation of the b-b-brain,† and, to the very end, lack imagination and miss the better story. † (64). This shows how the agnostic did not believe in god because he felt that it was untrue and unbelievable. Yet when he or she experiences it, they surely would become a believer. Pi seems to be bothered by the agnostic and their decision to doubt, to lack belief in anything. Another quote from Life of Pi shows that simply because Mr. Chiba and Mr.Okomoto have never actually witnessed a floating banana they automatically believed that it is untrue and believe it would sink. â€Å"â€Å"Bananas don’t float. † â€Å"Yes they do. † â€Å"They are to heavy. † â€Å" No they are not. Here, try for yourself. I have two bananas right here. † †¦ â€Å"They’re in. † â€Å"And? † â€Å"They are floating. † â€Å"What did I tell you? †Ã¢â‚¬  (292-293). Through experience Pi knows that bananas float. Once Pi proves to the interviewers that indeed bananas do float, they believe. How do we decide what to believe? The theory of knowledge can guide us in deciding what to believe, what to ignore, what to question, and what we don’t know.It is different from assumptions, rumo rs and myths. Which version do you believe? Do you think Pi, as a young boy, comes up with the fantastical tale to cope with the ugly truth? Or, is it somehow not the point to decide what actually happened? Maybe the beauty of the first story outweighs the believability of the second? Martel spends so much time developing the first story, and not much on the second. While it might seem totally unlikely, the details are all put into the first story. Ultimately, in Life of Pi, Martel leaves the decision of what to believe up to you.

An Educational Leader A Great Deal Of Issues That You...

Whether you are a school principal, superintendent or area superintendent, there is a great deal of issues that you face as an educational leader. Some issues may be poverty, the lack of qualified teachers or teacher morale, finances, lack of organizational structure, parental and community involvement, technology, or simply time. I was provided with the gratifying opportunity of interviewing a prior Principal of mine, Dr. Angela Murphy-Osborne (Dr. O). In this interview, Dr. O shared her top three issues that she faced as an educational leader today. Selecting only the top three issues was a major challenge for her! As a result, she provided her top three, while also voicing other concerns. After in-depth consideration, Dr. O decided that the top three issues she faces on daily basis as an educational leader were testing, lack of time, and budget. She explained to me that each of these issues is significant because they not only impact her directly, but they also play a major ro le to the success of the school! Testing is vital to the success of schools not only in central Florida, but also all around the world. Many countries, as well as the United States, use testing to track the progress and determine their students’ academic success. This year, Florida has introduced the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA). Postal (2015) stated, â€Å"The FSA, which debuted this year, was hotly criticized because of computer problems that interrupted testing sessions and because someShow MoreRelatedThe United States Department Of Education981 Words   |  4 PagesThe U.S. Department of Education provides supplemental funding to local school districts to meet the needs of at-risk and low-income students. This funding is known as Title 1 funding and the schools that receive a portion of this funding are referred to as Title 1 schools. 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